The latest available NZQA stats show that while stats of students passing literacy is up, Māori achievement in literacy is still behind by about 10%.

Council spokesperson Kathryn Carmody says they been wanting to include more Māori authors and young authors for a while in the hopes of attracting more young Māori to the written word.

“It's really important to keep that love of reading and story-telling and things like that alive in the older students. Grabbing someone that can really speak to them like Te Kahu, who I think will be able to. He's going to be a real asset to our programme. I expect him to be really popular. We have a few that are in hot demand. We definitely need more Māori authors on the programme.”

Rolleston also adds that it’s his opportunity to set an example for the next generation.